The Story of Camp John Hay

From Page 2 of the

Camp John Hay Newsletter, January 1981

Following the Spanish American War, the
Philippine Islands had become a territorial possession of the United States.
With the many military and civilian employees stationed in the lowlands,
the hunt began for a place with a more temperate climate where the troops
and employees could recuperate from the rigors of the tropical heat in the
lowlands. To this end several expeditions were sent into the mountain areas
of the country. It was on one of these expeditions that the La Trinidad --
Baguio area was discovered. The climate was temperate, even cold during the
nights. Magnificent pine trees abounded in the area, and the land was
fertile and productive.

This was what the Philippine Commission had
been looking for and, in June 1903, a resolution was passed making Baguio
the Summer Capital of the Philippine Islands. Later that year President
Theodore Roosevelt reserved an area of 535 acres for military use in the
area that was later to become Baguio City. This reservation was named Camp
John Hay in honor of John Milton Hay, the secretary of state in President
Mckinley’s and Roosevelt’s administrations. The area later grew to a
maximum size of 1,764 acres. The U.S. government now has use of
approximately 600 acres under the amended bases agreement of 1979.
[added by ed: ‘of 1979, and up until the base was turned over to the
Philippine government on July 1, 1991.]

In 1905 a road from the lowlands through the
Bued River Valley was completed, after 4 years of construction at a cost of
over 2 million dollars. This road was named Kennon Road after the American
Engineer who finally completed it, Major LW Kennon. Later that same year
the Baguio Country Club was opened with a 3 hole golf course and croquet
ground. By 1908 a Governor’s Residence (The Mansion House) and a hospital
had been built in Baguio. Business and residential lots were being sold,
and construction had begun on Camp John Hay.

Through the years the land occupied by John
Hay was tied up in litigation. Finally after 8 years, in a US Supreme
Court decision, Camp John Hay was officially transferred to the US Military
on 7 October 1910 for the price of 150,000 pesos.

General Bell Assumes Command

In 1911, Major General J. Franklin Bell became
Commanding General of the Philippine Department. It was during his tenure
that most of the pre-war building of the camp was accomplished, including a
dormitory (now the Main Club), paved roads, post exchange (now Snyder Hall,
the Communications Building), hospital (now the Igorot Lodge), warehouses,
headquarters, and the hydro electric plant that is still in use today.
General Bell personally designed and supervised the construction of an open
air amphitheater. This beautiful garden named after him is one of the major
tourist attractions in the Baguio area today. Also about this time an
eighteen-hole golf course with sand greens was constructed jointly between
the Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay.

Camp John Hay and Baguio City continued to
grow and prosper together into the 1920s. By that time John Hay had reached
almost the full extent of its pre-war growth. There were three companies of
Philippine Scouts stationed at Camp John Hay and Scout Barrio was constructed
for their families.

In 1940, the last major building on John Hay
was completed -- the summer residence of the US High Commissioner, now the
official Baguio residence of the American Ambassador.

By early 1941, tension was beginning to
build in the Philippine Islands as Japan began expanding towards Indonesia.
In May of 1941 all American dependents in the Philippines were ordered back
to the US as the Philippine Islands began bracing for the invasion that was
sure to come from Japan. Many Japanese living in the Philippines were
interred at Camp John Hay. On December 8, 1941, between 0830 and 0900, 27
Japanese bombers came over Baguio on their way to bomb Clark to the south.
They flew over John Hay one time, turned around and unloaded bombs on the
second pass. The first bomb to fall on the Philippine Islands exploded at
Military Circle, the main gate to John Hay, inflicting the first casualties
of the war.

Within a month the Philippine Islands were
occupied by Japanese, and Camp John Hay was turned into a concentration camp
for American and British citizens. In April of 1942, John Hay became a
Japanese Army Post. It was built into an important staging area and arsenal,
from which the Japanese supplied their soldiers fighting in the mountains.
They built many tunnels, trenches and pill boxes of reinforced cement. In
January 1945, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Commanding Officer of the Japanese
Imperial forces in the Philippines, moved his headquarters from Manila to
Baguio in anticipation of the coming invasion of the allied forces. The
headquarters was established in the Baguio General Hospital, but was
frequently moved to John Hay in order to avoid the strafing and bombing of
allied aircraft. General Yamashita chose the High Commissioner’s house for
his residence.

On 27 April 1945, the 33rd Division of the
American Army moved into Baguio and continued eastward to John Hay. Like
Baguio, Camp John Hay was in ruins. Most of the few buildings that had
withstood the bombing were gutted by the retreating Japanese. The Officer’s
Mess (now the Main Club) and Snyder Hall (now the communications building
and gym) still stood but were badly damaged. The pre-war hospital still
occupied the hill overlooking the vegetable garden that had once been a
beautiful golf course. The general’s quarters and Bell Amphitheater had
somehow miraculously escaped intact.

Under the command of General Clarkson, Baguio
underwent a rapid metamorphosis that turned it into a bustling rear echelon
base to support the combat forces still active against the Japanese hiding
in the mountains. Meanwhile the rehabilitation of John Hay had started
under the command of Colonel Frank M. Smith. Rapidly, most of the main
facilities were rebuilt and the famous John Hay Golf Course was reopened
on November 17, 1945.

On 23 August 1945, a general order was issued
by AFWESPAC which determined the future of Camp John Hay as follows:
"The Camp John Hay Leave and Furlough Center
is established at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mountain Province, Benguet
Sub-Province, Philippine Islands, at 0001 hours, 24 August 1945.
The mission and function of the Leave and Furlough Center are to provide
facilities for rest, relaxation and recuperation to all military personnel
stationed in the Luzon area of the Philippine Islands."

On November 17, 1957, Camp John Hay was
redesignated as John Hay Air Base. Through the years each succeeding
commander has built on and improved this beautiful retreat high in the
mountains of Northern Luzon. Today there are beautiful lodging, conference,
club and recreation facilities to serve the thousands of US Forces personnel
who annually come to this "Mountain Paradise."

The city of Baguio and Camp John Hay were both
founded early in the century, grew together and are traditionally considered
as one entity. The harmony of the personnel at John Hay and the civilian
community has become a cherished tradition and a source of great mutual
respect. The gates of John Hay are open and Filipinos join Americans in
one of the friendliest environments on earth, "Camp John Hay."

On 9 Jan 1979, Free Title to Camp John Hay
was returned to the Philippine Government by the U.S. Military.

Ed Note - From the page 12 credits block: "The Camp John Hay Information Letter, USAF Recreation Center,
Baguio City, R.P., is an unofficial MWR Newsletter published in the interest
of the personnel using the facilities at John Hay Air Station. Opinions
expressed by writers herein are their own and not to be considered an official
expression of the Air Force. The appearance of names of commercial establishments
in this publication does not constitute an endorsement of commercial products
or services by the Dept. of the Air Force. Publisher: Camp John Hay. Editor:
Michael G. Claseman. Contributing Editor: B. J. Smith. Photographers:
Rudy Somineg, Samuel Lopez. Printer: Baguio Printing & Publishing Co."